Camping Green

This weekend we went to the Trail of Tears Bike Rally at Water Loo Alabama. We go camping at Water Loo alot. The Camp site we used is  called Brush Creek.  

There are several ways to go camping that are greener than normal ways. Here are just a few of them we use.

1. Buy really good camping equipment. It may cost more at first but it will last in the long run. We bought chairs, a tent, cast iron cook wear and good air mattress. We do not have to replace them near as often.

2. Prepare ahead of time. Make sure you have what you need. It cost less when you bring  it from home than the camping destination. It also saves gas and the frustration.

3. Plan your food. You do not have to cook a 4 star meal on the camp fire. We are going to take the K.I.S.S. approach. Keep It Simple Stupid.  We take dried beans, taters, can goods, sandwich stuff, snack foods, and very little that takes refrigeration. We also take our own wood that we have from trees that have blown down.  We also take koolaid and tea mixes and a 2 gallon water  cooler. This way we use less plastic bottles or aluminum cans.

4. Use cooking utensils and stuff to eat out of that are recycled, reusable or compostable. We like the Dixie Paper products since they hold up to heavy meals and we can burn them in our camp fire with out letting bad chemicals out in the fire. We use thick plastic cups from home and real silverware.

5. We do not take any thing that needs to be plugged up or takes batteries. We have lanterns for light.  We also try to camp near the bathrooms and showers. That way we have a light to use at night when we walk.

6. When you cook food either cook just enough for who is there or get to know your neighbors and share. This weekend alot of that went on. Every one would cook something and then bring it to the pavilion and share it.

7. Use shampoos and soap that are biodegradable. We had the use of cold water showers or the river to take a bath in. We used the cold water showers.


8. Leave the place cleaner than you found it. We take time while packing up to make sure there is no trash in our spot or around where we camped. You can also make sure all the aluminum cans and glass bottles people use are picked up to recycled.

This is a fun family activity and it is made even better when you make it greener.